Everyday heroes are everywhere

As I pen these words, our nation has just observed the anniversary of 9/11…paying tribute to each victim who perished, speaking their names one by one.…remembering…how we, as Americans, came together in a way that perhaps we never had before. Tragedy seems to bring us together somehow. And tragedy brings the hero out in so many. Those firefighters, police officers and everyday citizens that ran to the danger instead of away…heroes. Those passengers aboard the plane who chose to stand, to fight, knowing there was no hope for their survival yet the keen belief that they could thwart horrific loss and they did…..they are forever heroes.

Just a couple of weeks ago we remembered the anniversary of the rush of a mighty wind called Katrina, that tore through the lives of Mississippians and Louisianans and Texans…and we remember oh, so well, the caravans of trucks, power companies, food distributors, National Guard…..firefighters….countless Christian organizations, that began the journey south…even as Katrina was still at sea. Tragedy brings us together. And many a hero stands up and makes a difference.

I think today of unsung heroes…high school football players who put their own lives in danger to lift a burning vehicle and free the driver trapped inside. Heroes…everyday heroes. I think of men and women in uniforms…soldiers, police officers and firefighters who put on those uniforms each day, away from the safety of their homes, leaving behind, husbands and wives, children and sadly, of late, have become targets of those who would do great harm. And yet they take those chances. That’s what real heroes do….and they do it for you and for me and for those who will follow after us. Heroes. Would that those who follow after us would emulate such lives.

Teams of players on football fields and baseball fields all across America….that stand with hand over heart as the National Anthem of this great nation is performed…because it’s right….because the nation that flag stands for has carried them this far…..they stand…..they are heroes.

Somehow in recent times for the minority, the definition of hero has changed to disrespect, to threaten, to mock, to silence, to incite violence and hatred, that makes them somebody’s heroes. But why? Because the loudest voices, the most bazaar demonstration, the ugliest rhetoric gets the press while all over this nation, citizens go quietly about the business of being human the way God designed us to be….they are everywhere. They go that extra mile to help someone in need, they work in food pantries and soup kitchens, they coach little league and soccer, bandage boo boo’s and rescue lost pets…..they give up their seat so that someone else can rest a bit, they hurt when we hurt and are not afraid to cry with us. They are every day the heroes.

They are the families of soldiers, like a mama with two kids playing soccer at the very same time….on two different fields…their daddy is a soldier and their mama is a hero too …because she fills that gap with her love and her life, her sweat and her tears…..she’s a hero, just like her husband.

Friends, I believe with all my heart that there are way more good people than bad, way more heroes than villains….way more acts of kindness than acts of violence. We just need to look around to see them and when we do; we might just find that we can learn to be heroes too. …..This world is worth it….be a hero to someone today….and every day. And when we do, we might just be a bit of that light at the end of the tunnel that drives out darkness and brings in love.

“How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” From the diary of Anne Frank.